Central Ohio Relocalization Effort (CORE), Columbus, Ohio

Folks,

I have written the basic proposal for the Solar Columbus program. I'd like some feed-back and, then, I'd like to schedule a meeting with Schwartzwald to put the proposal to him. I still have to contact Green Energy Ohio and have them assemble a packet of information on the "12" PV energy systems. If they are on-board with this proposal, then it shouldn't take them very long to put the packet together.

I'd like to invite several other area organizations to sign on as backing this proposal. I think Community Solution (even though they are in Yellow Springs) and the local Sierra Club chapter are good organizations to contact and I can do that this week. Can anyone think of any other groups that might like to back the proposal?

I also think that this proposal is worth taking to Dublin, Upper Arlington (wink, wink, Anita), Gahanna, Whitehall, Bexley, New Albany, Hilliard, Grove City, etc. If anyone knows contacts in these communities, then let's start putting them together.

Also, if we decide to go forth with this proposal, then I'd like to come up with some sort of press release to both raise awareness around town and to put a little pressure on City Hall to adopt the program.

If this doesn't come out very well in this blog, then contact me at gtolle0709@wowway.com for a copy of the file.

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Proposal for:

Solar Columbus

Pessimistic experts believe that world oil reserves have already peaked. Even the most optimistic experts speak of no more than 50 years. And yet, those predictions only relate to in-the-ground reserves extracted at current rates. They don't really address the complicating factors of growing energy demands in China and India or the difficulties in extracting the remaining oil and the increased costs of energy such competition for energy will create. Many people believe that we stood at the cross-roads of developing an effective alternative energy strategy in the 1970's then went down the wrong path. Today, we stand at a point where an effective distribution of renewable energy alternatives is 20 to 30 years away with moderate federal support and the federal government is devoting less money to developing and distributing these sources than they spend on a single fighter jet for the military.

If Columbus is to better weather higher energy costs and their resulting economic and supply chaos, then we must resort to two old american strengths: ingenuity and leading by example. We must come up with and implement effective strategies for dealing with the problems of dramatically reduced access to energy and we must begin it at a local level, thereby providing a path for other communities around us and even the federal government to follow should they choose to.

To this end, the Central Ohio Post-Carbon Outpost, in association with Simply Living, Green Energy Ohio, and Community Solution, propose that the City of Columbus adopt the following Solar Columbus plan:

1) The City of Columbus will operate as a buying agent for pre-selected photo-voltaic (PV) energy systems (see attached packet) by Columbus residents and businesses. These systems will include the PV panels, mounting (whether on-house or free-standing), the regulator, and the inverter (for net metering) and/or the battery system (for home storage). They will be sized for four approximate energy capacities: 1, 3, 5, and 10 kwatts. Systems will be offered from three separate suppliers.

Offering only twelve complete systems through the city provides several advantages:

1. Limited system choices means limited questions and and reduces time spent by city employees answering those questions.
2. Pre-selected systems means that compatibility of component issues have already been dealt with providing higher consumer satisfaction.
3. Pre-selected systems also means that compatibility issues with the local electrical system (e.g., AEP) have also already been dealt with so that there are minimal delays in hooking up the systems under net-metering laws.
4. Limited systems choices means more orders of specific systems leading to potential bulk discounts.
5. Offering equivalent systems from multiple suppliers means decreased likelihood of government favoritism.
6. Because the city does not need to make a large profit from the sale of these systems, they can be provided at a considerable discount Columbus residents. A 20 to 30% discount can be a considerable incentive for residents to buy these systems.

2) The City of Columbus will act as a buying agent only for these systems. Delivery will be to sites specified by the purchaser and the city will not be responsible for the actual deliveries. Neither will the City of Columbus be responsible for installation or maintenance of the systems. The purchasers will have to separately contract for both installation and maintenance of the systems. The City of Columbus's office will, however, provide an up-to-date list of certified(?) local installers that the purchasers can use as contact information, if they like.

3) The City of Columbus will also provide a centralized listing of information on state renewable energy tax credits and grants.

4) Because the City of Columbus is involved only with the ordering of the systems and providing selected information on request (most of which can be made available on a web-site), the employee(s) assigned to the task will probably not (at least in the beginning) need to devote full-time to the program. This will avoid the necessity of the City of Columbus adding to its employment roster. If the program proves successful and there is interest in expanding into other renewable resource projects (especially, solar water heating systems and rainwater catchment systems), then the program will have proven its worth in budgeting one or more full-time employee for its operation.

5) Although this program will take away potential income from small businesses centered around renewable energy systems, the program should greatly accelerate the adoption of renewable resource projects in the City of Columbus. These systems will need both installation and maintenance. The affected small businesses should, therefore, be more than able to compensate for the potential lack of sales with actual increased business revenue.

6) By encouraging the adoption of localized renewable energy systems, the City of Columbus will be increasing its disaster preparedness. Every households and businesses that has a renewable energy system becomes a potential island of help when the regional energy system is incapacitated by malfunctions or natural disaster.

7) By encouraging the adoption of localized renewable energy systems, the City of Columbus also stands to foster the understanding and innovations that make these systems most effective. As with the Apollo space program, these innovations could lead to new products and markets which, with Columbus at the center of their development, could lead to greater economic stability at a time when increased traditional energy costs are de-stabilizing the economy around us.

8) Although this program specifically addresses PV energy systems, there is no reason that, once the program is established and successful, it could not be expanded to include solar water heating, passive solar household heating, wind electricity production, rainwater catchment, greywater treatment systems, and the like. As long as the City of Columbus treats each type of household system in the same modular fashion as the PV energy systems, the efforts required by the City of Columbus will be minimal while the impacts on Columbus's economics based will be maximal.

Contact:
Geoffrey Tolle
207 W. Lakeview Ave.
Columbus, OH 43202
Home: 1-614-263-0275
E-Mail: gtolle0709@wowway.com